Hornets Find a Way to Take Care of Business in Orlando

The Hornets improve to 12-8 on the season.

ORLANDO, FL - It wasn't the prettiest of wins but the Charlotte Hornets got the job done on Wednesday night defeating the Orlando Magic, 106-99.

"You just got to find ways to win in this league," Hornets head coach James Borrego said. "The identity of a team is finding different ways to win every night. It was a different script tonight, different guys stepped up tonight. I give that small group a ton of credit. We were down seven, we went small with Miles [Bridges] at five. I think that was Terry [Rozier], Cody [Martin], Jalen [McDaniels], and Miles at the five. We played extremely well, got the lead quickly, and maintained it throughout so we just stuck with it."

Defensively, the Hornets protected the rim and also made it tough to score in the paint. Charlotte had 11 blocked shots on the night, three of which came from Miles Bridges at the five. Seeing the Hornets play that kind of defense inside was a little shocking to see considering the length that the Magic have with Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr., and Franz Wagner.

Gordon Hayward has his lowest output of the season with just one point on 0/6 shooting from the field, including going 0/4 from three-point range. For the second straight game, Terry Rozier led the way in scoring with 27 points. On Monday, the three-ball was working for Rozier whereas it was the inside game that worked for him in this one.

With Hayward's struggles, the Hornets needed a spark off the bench and that was provided by Kelly Oubre Jr. who is really starting to thrive in his role. He finished the night with 21 points and six rebounds.

"Good rhythm. from the start. He shot it good, he looked confident," Borrego said of Oubre Jr. "He was in this game early, I felt him early. He said it before the game that he was on a mission tonight. He was not going to let us lose this game, so he deserves a ton of credit. Just his mentality to come in, the way he shot it, the poise was there he was not forcing it. We let him in a little bit longer so hopefully, that helped. He was a big part of this win tonight."

With the win, the Hornets have now won seven of the last eight games which dates back to when the five-game losing skid was snapped. Charlotte will have Thanksgiving off and then return to the court on Friday to host the Minnesota Timberwolves inside Spectrum Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. 

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